The Australian Open quarter-finals are a showdown between compatriots Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul. It is a surprising pairing at this stage of the tournament, impressive especially for Shelton, who is making his Australian Open debut. The match will start on January 25 at 03:30.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (+4) for Shelton – 1.97.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Games Over 39 – 1.84.
Paul is undoubtedly the favourite in this pairing. Tommy definitely has more experience in major tournaments than Shelton, who only turned professional eight months ago. However, we don’t think Paul will have an easy match. Moreover, we think that Shelton has a good chance to pass his compatriot.
The Australian Open semifinal is unlikely to be a quick encounter. They both come to this match in superb form, so we don’t think they will be able to win in three sets.
Shelton continues to make history. The 20-year-old American, who turned professional just eight months ago, reached his first quarter-final at a Grand Slam tournament.
Shelton reached the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career. Interestingly, he had not previously had a win at this level.
In the fourth round, Ben scored a strong victory over J. J. Wolf (6:7, 6:2, 6:7, 7:6, 6:2).
Remarkably, the 20-year-old American did not give up a single game on serve in this match, while his opponent had just two break points.
Shelton also managed to win 82% of his first-serve points and complete 23 aces.
In the previous rounds, Shelton defeated Alexey Popirin (6-3, 7-6, 6-4), Nicolas Jarry (7-6, 7-6, 7-5) and Zhizhen Zhang (4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6).
Shelton won his last nine consecutive matches when his opponent was from the USA.
Paul, meanwhile, also reached the quarter-finals at the Grand Slam for the first time.
In the 1/8 final, Tommy defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut (6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5).
Despite Roberto taking one set, it was almost immediately clear that Ben Shelton would not give up this match.
Paul’s toughest match so far was against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (6-2, 2-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4), who led 2-1 in sets.
In the third round, Paul scored a confident win over Jenson Brooksby (6-1, 6-4, 6-3), who had previously stopped Casper Ruud.
In the other rounds, he had victories over Jan-Lennard Struff (6-1, 7-6, 6-2) and Jenson Brooksby (6-1, 6-4, 6-3).
Paul has won his last five matches in a row when he was the favourite.
Type of Court – Hard
Speed of Court – 7/10
Ben Shelton’s Rating – 89
Ben Shelton Wins/Losses in 2023 – 5/2
Tommy Paul’s Rating – 35
Tommy Paul Wins/Losses in 2023 – 5/1
In 4 of Paul’s last 5 matches, less than 9.5 games have been played in the first set. We offer to bet “1st Set Games Under 9.5” with odds of 2.14.
Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul will play their first head-to-head match.
The match will be played in Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
We recommend checking out the odds for the 2023 Australian Open: Ben Shelton vs Tommy Paul at 1xBet and VBET.